Guidebook on Journal Publishing for Agriculture and Rural Development

Background

The communication of research results through journal publications is a vital process for promoting agricultural and rural development. Publication of research results in agriculture and rural development is also important for the professional advancement of researchers. Therefore, the publication of journals that are of high technical and publishing standard and widely available on a sustainable basis will:

  • serve to promote high standards of research for agricultural and rural development
  • encourage the development of an international community of researchers who communicate regularly with one another and with the agricultural and rural development community
  • promote free flow of scientific and development information

Experience in Africa and other developing regions has consistently revealed low levels of performance in journal publishing in agriculture and rural development. Apart from the absence of a wide range of comparatively well-published and managed journals in these countries, high failure rates for new journals is a familiar story. Older journals tend to be characterised by poor management and very serious problems of financial viability that lead to irregular and unsustainable journal publication. The reasons for these weaknesses and poor performance in journal publishing include lack of sufficient professionalism in journal publishing procedures and the absence of simple, practical guidebooks for editors and potential publishers of journals in agriculture and rural development.

Concept

The target audience for this Guidebook is young and upcoming full time or part-time editors and publishers of journals in agricultural and rural development in the developing countries, especially those of Africa. Persons who wish to develop careers in agricultural journal editing and publishing will find this Guidebook a very useful and valuable starting point of reference.

In preparing this guidebook, every effort has been made to present the material in a simple, easy-to-follow style, focusing particular attention on those aspects of journal publishing that are commonly overlooked by journal editors. Examples have been provided to guide editors on how to handle problem areas in editing and communicating with journal contributors. Models of a variety of forms, guidelines, formats for journal management and promotional materials taken from successful journals, are included to guide editors in designing similar materials for their journals.

The author

Anthony Youdeowei is a Consultant in Integrated Production and Pest Management, Agricultural Education, Training and Scientific Communication. He is presently consulting for the FAO and Global IPM Facility on Farmers Field Schools programmes in Africa, and is based at the FAO Regional Office for Africa in Accra, Ghana. He has considerable experience in successfully managing agricultural journals, and served on the International Advisory Board of the School of Scientific Communication at the Mario Negri Institute in Italy.

Publishers

This book was jointly published with the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA), which was established in 1983 under the Lomé convention between the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) Group of States and the European Union Member States.

CTA's tasks are to develop and provide services that improve acess to information for agricultural and rural development, and to strengthen the capacity of ACP countries to produce, acquire, exchange and utilise information in this area. CTA's programmes are organised around four principal themes: developing information management and partnership strategies needed for policy formulation and implementation; promoting contact and exchange of experience; developing ACP partners with information on demand; and strengthening their information and communication capacities.

Contents

  1. Planning the publication of a new journal 
  2. Essential requirements 
  3. Editorial responsibilities 
  4. Journal production 
  5. Desktop publishing for journal editors 
  6. Distribution and marketing 
  7. Indexing and abstracting services and databases 
  8. Financial management 
  9. The future: Electronic journals 
  10. Appendixes
    1: Copyright issues 
    2: Checklist for helping a struggling journal 
    3: Recommended reading 
    4: Training of science editors 

Publication and ordering details

100pp, 297x210mm
English:
ISBN10: 1 902928 03 2
ISBN13: 978 1 902928 03 6
Francais:
ISBN10: 1 902928 06 7 
ISBN13: 978 1 902928 06 7
£19.95
Publication date: 2001
Available in print only

This book is distributed through the African Books Collective: to order a print copy of the book, please visit www.africanbookscollective.com

A limited number of complimentary copies of this publication are available to libraries in developing and emerging countries. To request a free copy, please email the ABC here

©INASP and CTA, 2001. All rights reserved. No part of of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright holders.